Morning People
by Lils
Summary: When Lily said that she would rather spend the summer with anyone other than her sister, she did not mean to include James Potter. LEJP.
1. Prologue

_A/N_: This chapter has been edited from its original version as of 4/22/08.

_Disclaimer_: I don't own Harry Potter.

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_Prologue_

Lily Evans' eyes widened in horror as she read through the letter in her hands.

This was bad.

Bad, bad, bad!

They could not do this to her. They could not do this to her! Her parents absolutely could not to do this to her! It had to be a mistake. They knew how she and her sister got along. They wouldn't actually try to…

It was a mistake. She was dreaming. This could not be happening to her! And it was just all too horrible to be a dream.

She quickly read through the letter again. The contents of the letter had not changed. It most certainly was not a dream. It was really happening. She angrily slammed the letter down on the table in the Great Hall causing several other people to look. She felt her face redden as she read her mother's are careful and deliberate handwriting once more.

_Dear Lily, _

_I know you were looking forward to coming home this summer, b__ut there has been a slight__ change of plans. My Aunt__ Nettie __had an unfortunate accident falling down the stairs. Don't worry, it's not too serious. However, your father and I are going to__ her home in Italy__ to help her recover. Sadly, this will most likely take up a large portion of your holiday. I have already talked to Petunia – and she agreed – and you will be staying with her and Vernon for the summer. I understand that you and your sister do not have the best relationship, but I really think that you should view this as an opportunity to become closer. Take care and__ write back soon_

_Love,_

_Mum_

Lily closed her eyes and anxiously rubbed the back of her neck, unaware of the figure approaching her.

"What's wrong?"

Lily opened her eyes to see the figure who had just sat down across from her.

"Hello, Audrey," she greeted one of her best friends.

"You always rub your neck when something's wrong," her friend persisted. "Tell me what's bothering you."

Lily let out a brief smile before she answered, "My parents are going to Italy."

"Oh," Audrey said. The confusion was evident in her voice. "I would be really upset too."

"That's not why I'm upset," Lily said quickly, sensing her friend's misunderstanding. "It's not where they're going; it's where they're making me go."

"Oh… Oh! Petunia?" Audrey asked as revelation suddenly dawned on her. Lily nodded her head miserably in confirmation. Lily had told her friend a lot of stories about her older sister. None of them good.

"Oh, Lily. I'm so sorry," her friend sympathized.

Lily didn't say anything. She still felt slightly numb from the news. A whole summer with Petunia! Lily looked at her friend with a look of complete anguish on her face. Anything would be better than spending the summer with her sister. Lily despairingly lowered her head onto the table.

"Couldn't you stay with someone else? Maybe Nathaniel?" Audrey suggested, referring to Lily's boyfriend.

Lily shook her head. Her parents would never allow her to stay with her boyfriend for the entire summer. And Lily wasn't entirely sure she wanted to spend the entire summer with him. She cared about him and all, but he tended to drive her a bit mad at times. She wasn't sure she could handle the whole summer with him.

"My parents would never let me spend the summer with him anyway. Remember the Christmas incident?" Lily asked as her friend nodded her head.

Lily had wanted to spend part of the Christmas holiday with him. Her parents did not. She ended up sneaking out to see him which led to a large row with her dad. Lily was grounded for the rest of the holiday and not permitted to even write to Nathaniel for the remainder of the holidays. Lily loved her parents, but they did have a slight tendency to be overprotective.

"What about Olivia?" Audrey suggested. "Or Mary? I'm sure they'd both love to have you."

"Olivia has eleven brothers and sisters; there's barely enough room for her in house. And Mary is going to Spain with her family."

Lily shot her friend a pleading look. Audrey squirmed slightly in her seat, looking intensely uncomfortable.

"Well," Audrey said, looking very uncomfortable. She scanned the Gryffindor table looking for other people that would be willing to let Lily could stay with them. "Maybe, if you're really, _really, _desperate…"

"I've stayed at your house before," Lily cut her off quickly, hoping her friend was suggesting that she stay with Audrey. Her heart leaped at the idea of spending the summer with her best friend instead of her awful sister.

"I know, but I'm staying with my aunt and uncle this summer…"

"Oh," Lily sighed disappointedly. "So, you're aunt and uncle wouldn't want me to come. It's okay. I understand."

"No, they wouldn't mind," Audrey automatically responded. She quickly clapped her hand over her mouth, looking terrified of what she had just said. L

"So, they wouldn't mind if I stayed too?" Lily pressed; her voice was filled with hope. "Please? I'd rather stay with anyone other than Petunia!"

Lily watched her friend anxiously, trying to read her reactions.

"No, they wouldn't mind. I mean, my aunt said that I could bring a friend if I wanted, but…"

Audrey's mouth dropped open in horror; she had clearly not meant to tell Lily that. Her friend, however, seemed oblivious to Audrey's horror.

"Great!" Lily replied. "That's fantastic! Thank you so much, Audrey. You don't know how much this means to me!"

Lily felt happiness swell up inside her. She would be spending the summer with one of her best friends. She wouldn't have to deal with her sister at all. A large smile spread across her face.

"I've got to owl my parents before we leave tomorrow," Lily muttered excitedly.

She quickly leaped out of her seat, leaving her half-eaten breakfast on the table. She grabbed her bag and rushed out of the Great Hall, leaving a shocked Audrey behind.

"No! Wait! Lily!" Audrey called after her friend.

She rapidly abandoned her own breakfast and ran off towards the Owlery to stop her friend before she sent that owl to her parents. Lily didn't know what she was getting herself into. If she had known about him, then she never would have agreed to this. However, Audrey's hopes of catching Lily were dashed as she collided into someone else. She let out a groan of pain as her head hit the hard floor. Her school supplies were scattered everywhere. The situation couldn't get much worse.

"You fell, Devy," an annoyingly familiar voice told her.

She was wrong about the situation not getting worse. It just had. She mentally groaned. She didn't have the time or the patience to deal with him at the moment. She look up to see Sirius Black standing over her with a very satisfied smile on his face, and something else that looked suspiciously like smeared red lipstick. She was only curious about it for a second before a flustered looking Ravenclaw quickly left the broom closet Black was standing in front of. _Figures_, she thought.

"I know I fell, Black. I don't need you to narrate my life," she responded as Black stretched out a hand to help her up. She looked at it for several seconds, debating whether or not to accept help from someone like him.

"I won't bite," he responded with laughter as she begrudgingly accepted his hand. "Not unless you ask first."

"You're such a gentleman," she responded sarcastically, temporarily forgetting her quest to find Lily before she was able to send an owl to her parents.

"I know," he said cockily with an extremely smug smile on his face.

"I was being sarcastic," she replied angrily.

"I knew that too. It doesn't change the fact that I am a gentleman," he responded. Audrey rolled her eyes.

"What are you doing out here anyway?" she demanded.

"I could ask you the same thing. _I_ was saying goodbye to a friend," he answered, emphasizing the word "I," and making it obvious that he wanted her to tell him what she had been doing. She refused to give into him.

"In a broom closet?" she asked derisively, raising an eyebrow.

"Don't be so jealous. We can say goodbye in a broom closet too," he said suggestively.

He grabbed her hand and began to lead her towards the broom closet. She quickly yanked her hand away. She began to walk off when she remembered the events that occurred earlier that morning. She let out a small groan. She had spent too much time bantering with Black. Lily was sure to have already sent that letter. There was no way to avoid it now. Lily was almost definitely spending the summer with her and her cousin.

"Have you seen James?" she asked.

"You want to say goodbye to him in a broom closet? That's just sick, Devy," he responded in a teasing voice. It still caused Audrey recoil slightly at his words. She felt slightly sick at the suggestion of her and James like _that_.

"That's gross. No. I can't believe you would even suggest that," she replied, cringing as she spoke. Her mind was still reeling with the suggestion. The thought of her and James together like that was enough to want to make her throw up. Audrey could feel her dislike for him growing even more each second.

"You can never tell with you, Devy," Black answered lightly as Audrey sent him a harsh glare.

"I need to find Lily," she replied, ignoring his suggestion and the horrible nickname that he liked to call her. "You really enjoy torturing me, don't you?"

"I can think of some other things I would enjoy doing with you too," he suggested seductively.

Audrey felt her cheeks turn pink against her will. He smirked arrogantly at her. She knew he had no interest in her. She really wasn't his type at all, but he still insisted on constantly messing with her head. It only increased her dislike of him.

"Is she with James?" he asked.

"Who?"

"Lily."

"Of course not! Lily has standards, unlike some people," Audrey answered pointedly.

"Was that directed at me or James or the Marauders in general?" Black asked with an unfaltering smile on his face.

"All of you," Audrey replied angrily. She had been hoping to get some sort of indignant response from him. Something she could easily turn back on him with a sarcastic comment. But nothing seemed to shake him.

"On behalf of James, Remus, Peter and myself, I would like to point out that we do have standards," he replied smoothly, still unshaken by anything Audrey said.

"Having a pulse doesn't count. And I'll admit that Peter, Remus, and James have some standards, you on the other hand…"

"Must be why I'm attracted to you," he answered.

Audrey felt herself blush against her will. He was doing this on purpose. Just to get a reaction out of her. Her experience with the opposite sex had been somewhat… limited. As in she had never really dated very much. It wasn't exactly hard to get a response like that out of her, but no one seemed to enjoy it as much as Black did.

"And you're attracted to me too, of course. Everyone is," he added.

Audrey felt her cheeks grow continually redder. She mentally cursed herself for doing so. She knew that Black treated every girl exactly the same way as he treated her. Only, he seemed to enjoy annoying her more while he seemed to prefer to just snog all of the other girls in broom closets.

"You're really an arse, you know that right?" she asked.

He merely smiled and nodded as if he did in fact know that he was an arse and it did not bother him at all. Audrey let out a frustrated sigh.

"If you see James, tell him that I changed my mind and I'm bringing a friend."

"It's Lily, isn't it?" Black asked knowingly.

She froze momentarily, wondering how on earth he knew that. Coming up with no other response, she merely nodded her head.

"How'd you convince her to come? She hates James. And me. No, wait. You decided to show your cousinly love for James, and play matchmaker."

"No," Audrey responded as she looked guiltily at her feet. She nervously twisted her hands together.

"Then what?" he asked. "There's no way she would willingly agree to spend the summer with James and me without some convincing first."

Audrey didn't say anything. Her eyes were fixed on the floor. She refused to look at him.

"You didn't tell her. Haven't you two been friends for years? Why didn't you ever mention it?"

"James and I are cousins, not siblings. And, in case you didn't notice, we're not that close either," she defended.

"You used to be," he pointed out.

"Not anymore."

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_A/N_: This chapter is just setting up what's to come and establishing some character for Sirius and Audrey. Expect a lot more Lily and James interaction in the future. The title isn't random. It has a meaning, but that's for later on. I just hope my story doesn't change freakishly in that amount of time, so the title no longer makes sense. I hope you all enjoyed the prologue! James is actually in the next chapter, don't worry!


	2. Of Not So Secret Cousins

_A/N: _Edited as of 4/22/08.

_Disclaimer_: I do not own Harry Potter, sadly.

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_Chapter 1: Of Not-So-Secret Cousins_

Lily slowly waded her way through the sea of people in Platform 9 ¾. She finally made her way back to Audrey. Lily had just finished a short goodbye with her boyfriend. Audrey was nervously twirling a loose strand of hair while the other hand fidgeted nervously with sleeve of her sweater. Her breath was ragged. Her eyes were fixed on her feet and her face seemed a few shades paler than normal.

"Are you okay?" Lily asked, noting the appearance of her friend.

Audrey nodded her head and looked up to face Lily. Their eyes made contact and Audrey quickly dropped her head like a guilty child who had just broken her mother's favorite vase. She slowly raised her head and glanced around the platform, apparently looking for someone.

"It's not too late to change your mind, Lily," Audrey said in an almost pleading voice.

Her eyes had suddenly become focused on something behind Lily. But Lily hadn't noticed; she felt a sinking feeling within her. She briefly wondered if Audrey even wanted her to come. She couldn't stop the flicker of hurt flashed across her face.

"If you don't want me to come, you could just say so. I mean it's really okay. I can stay with Petunia" Lily muttered.

She felt embarrassed and ashamed that she had even forced her company on Audrey. She had just been so preoccupied with finding someone other than Petunia to stay with that she had neglected to think how much she might be imposing on her friend. Her face had turned a slight pink. Audrey's eyes widened slightly at Lily's words.

"No, it's not that. I want you to come. I do! It's just… Well, it's my family… They're…"

Lily let out a small laugh in relief. A large smile spread across her face as her green eyes glowed with excitement. Audrey had wanted her to come! She was just worried about her family. A little ridiculous really… Nothing could be worse than Petunia.

"Your family can't be that bad," Lily commented lightly. She couldn't keep the happiness out of her voice.

"My aunt and uncle are nice," her friend murmured softly.

"Trust me. No one could even hope to be as bad as Petunia and her stupid husband, Vernon, are," Lily spat venomously.

She had become completely unaware of what her friend was saying. The subject of her sister and her new brother-in-law always escalated into a vehement rant about the magic-hating couple.

"It's my cousin. He's…"

"Petunia is an absolute… I don't even know how to describe it. She's horrible! An absolute terror which is really a very pleasant way of describing her! Oh, she's absolutely terrible! She thinks she's so… Ugh! She's a complete nightmare! Plus, she always blamed me for everything when we were little. And now! She still does it. She's… There's no way your family can be as bad as my sister and her husband. I mean, it's not like you're related to Black or anyone."

"A prick. He's a complete and total prick. He's just so arrogant and self-centered and moronic and a whole bunch of other bad things that I can't think of right now. He's just such a prick! That's what he is," Audrey finished describing her cousin with a tone similar to what Lily had been using.

"Oh, sweet little Devy," a new voice interjected in Lily and Audrey's pseudo-conversation.

Lily turned around to see who had interrupted the conversation, even though she had recognized the voice the second she heard it. She inwardly cringed when she saw Sirius Black and James Potter standing in front of her. She mentally reminded herself that this would be the last time she would have to see him until the summer was over. She felt a wave of calmness wash over her at the thought.

"What do you want, Potter?" Lily asked ignoring Black and not bothering to keep the strong annoyance out of her voice.

"James and I just came over to tell you how much we were looking forward to spending the summer with you two lovely ladies," Black said smoothly, causing Lily to go into shock at the information she had just heard.

"Lily's lovely. Audrey's average, if anything. I don't really look at her way," Potter corrected his friend, causing Audrey to hit him in the shoulder. Potter let out a slight noise of surprise and began to rub the spot that she had just hit.

"Thanks, Audrey. I'm really feeling the love here," Potter muttered as he sent a glare at her.

"Black is your cousin?" Lily asked, too surprised to convey anything other than shock in her voice.

"Of course not! James is," she said in a hurry.

The words were spoken quite rapidly. They almost blurred together. Almost. Unfortunately, Lily had still heard every terrible word that her friend had just said.

"Did you just say that Potter is your cousin?" Lily asked, the shock still pervading her voice.

"I tried to tell you, Lily. I really did."

"You've been friends for six years and you never told Lily that we were related?" Potter asked. The arrogant smile that normally dominated his features was replaced by a confused frown.

"She said you were friends when you were younger," Lily muttered quietly as the shock of the revelation finally sunk in, only to be replaced by hurt and confusion. Lily wondered why her friend would keep such a big secret from her. She glanced at Audrey who was embarrassedly looking at the ground and avoiding looking at anyone.

"Why else would Lily have agreed to come? Did you think she suddenly found you charming and adorable?" Black asked his best friend. His voice shook Lily out of her daze.

"Everyone else does," Potter said with confidence. His arrogant smile had returned and was directed at Lily who rolled her eyes in disgust and irritation.

"I'm sorry, Lily. I should have told you sooner. But he's… Well, he's James! And it's not like I'm proud to be related to him or anything," Audrey said, finally braving a glance at Lily who offered her a brief, comforting smile.

"Such harsh words. We're family, Devy. We're supposed to love each other and care about each other and all that other stuff," Potter commented as he led the group towards an older couple, presumably his parents.

"Maybe I would if you'd stop calling me that stupid nickname," Audrey murmured under her breath. Potter simpfly smiled at her words.

"You're the one who couldn't pronounce her own last name," Potter responded.

"I was four!"

"Whatever you say, _Audrey_," Potter responded, emphasizing her name. "Are you full of cousinly feelings of happiness and love for me now?"

"What? Because you called me by my first name? No," she answered.

Potter's smile grew larger despite her words, and he quickened his pace. He gave each of his parents a hug, as did Black and Audrey. Potter stepped back and swiftly grabbed Lily's wrist and pulled her forward before she had time to object.

"What are you –?" Lily started to ask furiously before Potter quickly cut her off.

"Not now, Lily-love," he responded swiftly and quietly. She barely had time to protest the endearment before he began addressing his parents.

"Mother, Father," he addressed them with an air of extreme formality. His voice suddenly deepened several tones. Lily twisted her wrist in his hand, but his grip remained firm on her wrist. "May I present to you, beloved parents, the amazing, beautiful, spectacular, wonderful, incredible, splendid –"

"James, get on with it," his father interrupted Potter's speech with a small grin on his face.

"Right, so the amazing, beautiful, et cetera, et cetera, magnificent, caring –"

"Not about you," Black commented with amusement while his friend sent him a harsh glare.

"As I was saying, the caring –"

"James," his mother cut him off with a mildly annoyed tone. He grinned sheepishly at his mother for a second before finishing his speech.

"Mother, Father. May I present my lovely girlfriend, Lily Evans?" he said quickly. Lily had finally broken free of Potter's grasp. She quickly stepped away from him, her mouth open and ready to protest. However, his father spoke before she ever got the chance to say anything.

"The same Lily Evans that said she's rather go out with the giant squid than you?" his father asked.

Lily laughed at the expression that appeared on Potter's face. Lily decided that she liked this man, even if he did spawn Potter. Light patches of pink appeared in Potter's cheek as he angrily turned towards his best friend.

"Sirius!" he hissed angrily as his friend doubled over in laughter. Potter instinctively reached for his wand to hex his friend, forgetting that they were now surrounded by Muggles.

"James!" his mother chastised.

He muttered a quick apology and hastily shoved the wand back into his pocket. The woman suddenly glanced at Lily.

"I'm Anne. And this is my husband, John," she introduced as she pulled Lily into a quick, warm hug.

"It's nice to meet you," Lily responded truthfully, wondering how such nice people could produce something like James Potter. His parents were nice enough. Audrey would be there. Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad summer after all. Lily followed as the Potters started to exit the station. She was surprised to see that Black was following them.

"Black's coming too?" she whispered quietly to Audrey, who gave her a slight nod.

"Great," Lily said sarcastically. Okay, so Potter and Black would both be there. She's heard of the Potter family. Their wealth was well-known in the wizarding world. They probably had a large house she could easily avoid them in a big house. She usually managed to do it at Hogwarts. Lily took a deep breath and headed off to what would prove to be one of the most eventful summers that she would ever have.

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Since this is the first chapter where James actually shows up, I was just curious... What did everyone think of him?


	3. Of Breakfast Incidents

A/N: Sorry for the delay. I was having some trouble getting a solid grasp on some of the characters. So, I wrote some character studies to kind of really delve into why each person acts the way they do. It was helpful. And hopefully, the characters don't seem flat. So, I wrote those, started to type this up, and then my internet went down.

Chapter 2: Of Breakfast Incidents

To say that the Potter home was large, was an understatement. It was enormous. A mansion, complete with four stories that were filled with long, winding hallway, seemingly endless corridors of identical doors, multiple libraries that towered with books on every subject, and numerous portraits of past occupants stretching back to what seemed like Roman Empire. Needless to say, it was very easy to lose your way, as Lily quickly discovered.

Lily had left her room in the middle of the night to use the bathroom. After the discovery of four different bedrooms, three very large bathrooms, two flights of stairs, and an extremely embarrassing incident in Sirius's bedroom, Lily managed to wander into the kitchen where the aroma of a hot breakfast was calling to her.

"Oh, Lily, dear, you're up early," Anne's warm voice called from across the kitchen. She was sitting at a small kitchen table in the corner across from a dark, mop of unruly black hair. Lily's hopes that it was James's father – who looked eerily identical, other than a few minor traits here and there, to James – who was sitting across from Anne were soon dashed. His head turned, with a sinking feeling, she recognized the much younger face of James Potter.

"A bit early for you, isn't it? I never had you pegged as a morning person, Evans," he commented. His voice was a bizarre twist of anxiety and fear etched into his normal arrogant tone. His head dropped in a single graceful movement and he began to play with the food in front of him.

"James, don't be rude! Her name is Lily. And stop playing with your food!" his mother chastised. James quickly shoved a forkful of food into his mouth. His mother cringed in embarrassment and disgust as James chewed his food, struggling to keep his mouth closed.

"It's okay, Mrs. Potter. I don't mind. Really, I don't," Lily quickly assured her. She stopped herself before she could add that she preferred it that way. She knew the only reason James called her Evans was because she had expressly forbid him to call her anything else (including Lily Flower, Tiger Lily, Love, etc.) during their fourth year. And for once, James had honored her request.

"Please, call me Anne," his mother responded while flashing Lily a warm and comforting smile.

"Right, Anne. Well, I think I'll just go back to my room now," Lily lied, knowing she had no clue how to get back to her room. She left Anne with a look of confusion and James with a look of mild fury at her sudden decision to depart.

"Tact's not really your strong suit, is it?" James drawled from the table. Lily felt her face turn a furious red as James gave her his trademark arrogant smirk.

"James! Lily, don't mind him. He's just –."

Sleep deprivation, a lack of food, and a previously established dislike of a particular member of the opposite sex got the better of her. Fury built up inside her and was now ready to release itself. And James Potter was the target of her bottled fury.

"You really think remarks like that are going to make me like you? You are arrogant and conceited. Why wouldn't I want to get away from you?" Lily yelled as she took an unconscious step towards him, her heart racing madly.

James looked taken aback for a second at Lily's outburst. They had argued before, but it usually took more to get Lily riled up than one rude remark. Not this time.

"You like that idiotic prat boyfriend of yours!" James retorted, rising from the table after he had recovered from his initial shock.

"And?" Another step closer. _Was it getting hotter in here_, Lily wondered vaguely.

"Clearly you have no standards. I mean you can't have any if you're willing to date that insult to the human race. If you had any standards…" James responded, his rage now rivaling Lily's as they began moving closer and closer together. Lily decided that it was definitely getting hotter in the room.

"Oh, I have standards! Why do you think I refuse all of your offers?" Lily screamed ready for whatever rude thing James was about to say next. Their faces were practically touching now. Electricity raced through her skin. She had never been quite so close to James before. It was a furiously exciting experience.

"That's enough!" Anne yelled as she stepped between the two of them, separating them. The electricity within her died as she took a step away from James. She could feel her heart rate slowing down to its normal even pattern. Her breathing steadied itself.

"I want both of you to calm down right now. Now, I'm not entirely sure what's going on between the two of you, but whatever it is, you need to put it aside for the summer. Or it is going to be a very long two months. For all of us," Anne told them.

"Sorry, Mrs. Potter," Lily apologized. "I don't know what came over me."

"Yeah, sorry," James added halfheartedly as he sat down and began to play with his food again. Lily stopped herself from rolling her eyes in disgust. Anne was right. She was going to have to learn to tolerate Potter if they were going to be stuck together for the next couple of months.

"I think I'll just go back to bed for awhile," Lily said.

"Don't be ridiculous, Lily. You're already up. You might as well stay and eat. You have to try some of this delicious breakfast that James made," Anne commented.

James dropped his fork. All traces of anger vanished, only to be replaced by a distinct look of embarrassment. He choked on the food in his mouth. His face had turned an ashen color. He dropped to the floor to conduct an extensive search for his fork.

"You cooked?" Lily asked in surprise. She had a long list of the things she thought James Potter was. A good cook was not one of them.

"I can't find my fork," James mumbled from under the table, his eyes were glued to the floor.

"It's right there," Lily pointed out the fork which was only inches away from his hands, feeling annoyed with him. "You cooked?"

"Thanks," he said as he picked up the fork and prepared to take another bite of food, still ignoring Lily's question.

"Use a different fork, James," Anne commanded as James petulantly rose from the table to begin a search for a new fork.

"You cooked. Do you cook a lot?" Lily asked.

"He loves to cook," Anne supplied. Lily saw his face turn a pale shade of pink before he quickly turned his back to her. He seemed suddenly preoccupied with finding a new fork. He began to noisily go through each drawer in the kitchen.

"I don't cook. I don't even know where the forks are," he muttered as the silverware in the drawer clanged loudly against each other.

"That drawer, James," Anne said pointing to the next one over. "And get one for Lily too. And a plate."

"Evans," he said handing her a fork and a plate. He then made his way back to the table. Lily stood motionless with the fork and plate in her hands. "If you're going to eat, you may want to sit down. It's easier if the food's in front of you."

The embarrassment was gone for the moment and replaced by his characteristic arrogance. A slightly malicious smile formed upon her lips as her next words formed in her head.

"I still can't believe you cook."

"I don't cook!" James defended, his face flushing again. Lily laughed lightly at his reaction which only seemed to add to his embarrassment. "Because cooking is not a masculine or manly thing to do. So why would I cook?" James said, seeming very flustered. Lily had never seen James quite so unglued as he seemed to be in his own house. She looked on at James's reaction in amusement.

"There's nothing wrong with liking to cook, James," his mother said with boredom. It was clearly a conversation they'd had before. "Sit down, Lily. Eat. James is a very good cook, I promise."

Lily walked over to the table and positioned herself as far away from James as possible. Despite her hunger, she piled minimal amounts of food on her plate. Despite Anne's promise, she was still wary of anything James Potter may have made. She suspiciously bit into the food.

"Like I said?" Anne asked. Lily nodded her head. James Potter could cook. Really, really well. Not that she would ever let him know that she thought the food was anything better than barely edible.

"Good, well I have to leave now. So, I'll see you two tonight at dinner," she said before quickly disapparating away before Lily had a chance to protest. She was now alone with James Potter. Lily glanced up at all potential exits. She could not handle being alone with him for extended periods of time.

"It's good?" he asked, looking strangely hopeful.

"I'm not very hungry," Lily lied, setting her fork down. She wasn't going to admit that it was some of the best food she'd ever tasted to James.

"Oh, okay," James said, seeming disappointed. Lily almost felt bad to cause it.

"I think I'll just go back to my room now," she said, leaving the table and preparing to begin another endless quest for her room. Anything, as long as it meant less time with Potter.

"Hey, Evans?"

"Yeah?" she asked turning around, curious as to what he was about to say.

"Never mind."

"Okay," she said as she pushed the door she came in through open and looked hopelessly around the room before her. This was going to be a very long summer.

"Evans?" she heard James call again.

"What?" she asked, feeling a little irritated this time.

"It's quicker if you go through the other door in the kitchen and go straight up the stairs through there."

"Thanks," she responded as she quickly brushed passed him and went through the kitchen again. She opened the door opposite of the one she had just come through and let out a shrill scream as she saw what was before her.


	4. Of Dinner Anecdotes

A/N: Please don't hate me. I'm sorry it took so long. My computer isn't hooked up to the internet right now, so I have to take everything I do, burn it to a CD, and put it on my mom's lap top. And I'm sorry if this chapter disappoints, but I don't think it'll be quite what anyone was expecting. It's a little longer though. That's good, right?

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

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Chapter 3: Of Dinner Anecdotes

The Potters, Sirius, and Audrey all sat around the dining room table. They had arrived too late the previous night to have a proper return celebration, and therefore were pulling out all of the stops tonight. An overwhelming scent of turkey, potatoes, and other delicious foods came from the adjoining room, causing many of the room's occupants – namely Sirius – to become quite petulant from the lack of food. He complained loudly about having to wait for _her_ only to have his best friend actively defend her at every single perceived attack. Both received glares from Anne. John and Audrey were making patient small talk, neither really hearing what the other had to say. All of their energies were both focused on decidedly ignoring the ongoing fight between James and Sirius.

"It's been fifteen minutes. I don't think she's coming down. Let's just start," Sirius complained again as his stomach growled loudly.

"She probably just wasn't ready when Anne told her we would be having dinner soon," John responded in a very patient voice, breaking his resolve to ignore the complaints coming from Sirius.

"How could she not be ready?" Sirius asked. "It's been an hour practically!"

"It's been fifteen minutes," James replied glancing at the clock on the wall. "You just said it."

"Exactly. I don't think she's coming," Sirius responded. "Especially after what happened earlier today."

James ignored the pointed look from his best friend and sulkily looked away.

"What happened? Why wouldn't she come?" Anne asked curiously.

"Because James was a complete arse towards her today," Sirius answered lightly before continuing his ongoing demand that they no longer wait for Lily and just eat.

"Language," Anne lightly scolded.

"Sorry. Can we please eat?"

"When isn't James an arse?" Audrey asked. Her expression was innocent, but her tone and eyes had hidden something darker in them.

"Audrey!" Anne reprimanded again.

"I didn't do anything wrong!" James defended while Audrey mumbled a small apology towards Anne.

James couldn't have helped any of the events that had occurred earlier that morning. It wasn't his fault that she had never seen one before. And he had only tried to help. His intentions were good, no matter how poorly they had been carried out.

"What happened?" his father. His eyes glowed with a familiar anticipation. It was similar to the look that James would get right before he was going to pull a really good prank.

"Nothing. Nothing happened," James replied discontentedly. This was not a good first day of the holidays. He sent Sirius a glare, warning him not to say anything more. It wasn't an incident that he exactly wanted broadcasted to his family. His best friend obviously didn't share these sentiments. Sirius promptly decided to ignore James's warning glances and proceeded on with the conversation.

"It's really a story best told over dinner," Sirius responded as his eyes darted hopefully towards the door dividing the two rooms. "Not really anything that I think could be told with an empty stomach."

"It's really a story best not told at all," James said pointedly at Sirius who once again ignored him.

"You really don't think she's coming down?" John asked no one in particular as Sirius shook his head fervently. John laughed at his actions and called for the house-elf in the next room to bring in their food. Sirius let out a quick cry of joy as he caught sight of the food being brought into the room. James silently prayed that the food would be enough to distract him from telling his family anything else.

"The story, then?" John asked as he piled a large spoonful of potatoes onto his plate.

"Sirius," James hissed warningly. "Don't say anything."

"James might be right. I don't know if Lily would want everyone to know this story," Audrey said. James decided that he had never liked his cousin as much as he liked her right at that moment.

"Yes, think of Evans," James pleaded softly.

"It's not a good story, Dad. Really, it's not," James tried to convince his father. "Trust me."

"Well, if you say so, James. I guess we'll need another story to tell then," his father mused thoughtfully. James didn't like the look on his face. He knew that he was not going to win anything tonight.

"Dad, please."

"I have one!" his father declared happily. His tone was light and easy, but his face was almost malicious.

"Please, don't be the time in Quality Quidditch Supplies. Please don't be the time in Quality Quidditch Supplies," James prayed softly. He did not like the look on his father's face. He had no choice. Either way, he was going to be mortified later on.

"One time when James was two, I took him to Diagon Alley. And he really wanted to go into Quality Quidditch Supplies," his father began to tell the story.

"Right, so, Evans. Sirius, tell the story. Please?" James begged. Any story was better than this one.

"No thanks. Maybe later."

"You are the worst best friend in the whole world," James hissed angrily.

"Shh. You're making miss the story, Prongs."

"And, we were potty training James at the time. And I had told him that when he was a big boy he wouldn't need to wear a diaper anymore," James' father continued with his story. James' face was turning a deeper shade of scarlet every passing second. "But, James didn't quite understand what I had said. And anyway, back to Quality Quidditch Supplies, James said he wanted a broom and I told him that he could have one when he was a big boy."

"Dad. Please. Please, Dad."

"James, it's not that bad. It probably embarrassed me more at the time than it ever has you. Right, so then, he declared that he was a big boy and that he could ride on a broom and that since he was a big boy he didn't need clothes either. So, he rips off his clothes, grabs the nearest broom, and starts flying around the store on the broom."

James sank low into his seat, his face bright red, as everyone around the table started laughing. This night could hardly get any worse. At least Evans wasn't there to hear any of it, he thought hopefully. Although, Audrey was probably going to tell her everything later.

"You bought me the broom. It got me what I wanted," James said with as arrogant of a voice that he could muster.

"No, they made me buy the broom. Some sort of company policy. Your naked child sits on it, you buy it. Can't say that I blame them. Do you think anyone else would have wanted that broom after your naked butt was on it?"

"Wait! It's not the broom that I used to fly around on when we were little, is it?" Audrey asked, horror etched into her face.

James shrugged noncommittally, enjoying her terror. If he had to be miserable that night, it was only fair that someone else should be too.

"No, no. He broke it three days later. So, Sirius, your story?"

"Right, well, first of all, Evan is a muggle-born," Sirius began to explain while ignoring his best friend and his best friend's cousin. Anne inquisitively looked at Sirius to see where this conversation might be headed. James sullenly crossed his arms and stared determinedly at his plate, mentally listing the pros and cons of murdering his best friend. Which is why James was shocked to hear his father's angry voice break across his thoughts. James sharply raised his head as he stared at his father in alarm.

"I raised you better than that, James," his father said coldly. His voice was replete with controlled fury.

"I would never say anything like that!" he defended himself as soon as he realized what his father was accusing him of. He swiftly rose from the table in anger. "That's not what happened at all!"

"Then what did happen, James?" his father asked, following James' suit and also rising from the table, towering over his son. The fury in his voice was becoming less and less controlled with each passing second.

"John! James! Calm down. Let's just hear what happened before jumping to any conclusions," Anne suggested reasonably while tugging on John's arm and lowering him back into his seat before turning her eyes to James. "You too. Now what happened, James?"

"She had never… And I didn't know… It was just so funny," James said as his disjointed thoughts left his mouth as words.

"Insightful," his father deadpanned.

"She walked into Edie's quarters," Sirius supplied helpfully, feeling a bit bitter that he was no longer the center of attention.

"We were in the kitchen and I told her it was quickest to get back to her room if she went through Edie's room. And well, apparently she'd never seen a house-elf before."

A look of comprehension suddenly dawned on his father's face. All traces of anger quickly vanished from his face and he began to laugh.

"But hasn't she seen them before? She's been to Audrey's house, hasn't she? Don't you have one, Audrey? I thought you did," Anne asked.

"Audrey killed him," James supplied quickly in a would-be helpful tone, but it was clear that all he wanted was to steer the conversation away from the incident that had occurred earlier that day.

"I did not kill him!" Audrey defended, quickly rising from the table.

"So you didn't become convinced that house elves were greatly mistreated and needed to be brought to justice?" James asked.

"Well, he was…"

"And you didn't decide to fix the situation by giving him clothes?" James asked, silently giving thanks that the conversation no longer revolved around him and Evans.

"He was unhappy. Everyone was always telling him what to do. And making him clean things. And cook things," Audrey retorted petulantly before her tone changed to one full of regret. "I didn't mean to. I didn't know he was going to die from the shock."

"Audrey the house-elf killer," Sirius said in an almost sing-song-like voice. "It has a nice ring to it."

"It does not!"

"You're right. Devy the house-elf killer. Much better."

"Shut up, Black!" Audrey yelled.

"Audrey," Anne said in a warning tone.

"Sorry," she murmured shrinking back into her seat.

"She screamed," Sirius stated.

"Yes, state the obvious. Because no one at this table knows that I screamed," Audrey sneered before faltering under her aunt's stare and muttering another apology.

"No, no. Devy didn't scream. Well, I mean, she did scream, but I meant Lily. When Lily saw the house-elf she screamed," Sirius amended his previous statement. "And then James…"

"That's right, she did scream," James said quickly, not wanting to have this story told by Sirius. "And I thought she was hurt or something so I rushed in there to help her out," he said with proud tone of finality while puffing out his chest. It was clear he had wanted the story to end there with him playing the part of the hero. "She just a little embarrassed, I think."

"You left out the part where you crashed into her," Audrey added mischievously, a small smirk playing at her lips. Sirius practically beamed at her.

"It's pick on James and relive his most embarrassing moments night, isn't it?" he asked, glaring at his best friend, his cousin and his father.

"And I thought that was tomorrow night," Sirius said as he adopted an overblown look of confusion on his face and dramatically scratched his head.

"My calendar says it's on Saturday," Audrey supplied.

"Oh, that might be right. I'll have to check again," Sirius responded playfully.

"Since when are you two best friends?" James asked bitterly, deciding that he'd never hated either of them more than he did at that moment. Nor was he entirely comfortable with the idea of them being friends, or even friendly.

"So, you crashed into Lily?" Anne prodded gently.

"No."

"You didn't? But they said you did," John said gesturing towards Audrey and Sirius. Confusion filled his voice as he listened intently to the story.

"Yes, well, I didn't crash into her. Exactly," James said carefully.

"What did you do exactly?" his father asked amusedly.

"I flung the door open. And she was standing sort of close to it, and it knocked her down."

"Was she alright?" Anne asked concernedly.

"She was fine until James decided to help her up, tripped and fell on top of her," Sirius answered as a deep shade of scarlet crept across James' face while John started laughing again.

"It was a very compromising position," Sirius added wickedly as James' face turned an ever deeper crimson.

"But I didn't do it on purpose!" James defended while looking meaningfully at John and Anne as Audrey let out a snort. "She said I did?"

Audrey gave a noncommittal shrug and turned her attention to the remaining food on her plate. James could feel his temper slowly rising.

"Well, did she?" James asked angrily.

"Did you?" Audrey asked coldly, lifting her eyes from her plate and looking directly at him.

"He did," Sirius answered for him before he had the chance to deny it.

"Hey!" James yelled.

"What? You didn't?"

"No, I didn't," James answered.

"Sorry, mate. It's just you never would've guessed the way you went on about it the rest of the day. For the rest of the day, it was all 'Evans' hair is so soft. Evans' skin is so smooth. Evans smells so nice.'"

James cringed and sunk lower into his seat at Sirius's imitation of him. It wasn't that it was a particularly bad imitation that bothered him. It was the fact that it was spot on and had just been displayed for his entire family to see.

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So... Thoughts? Opinions? I was sort of iffy on this chapter at first until I added the part about "Your naked child sits on it, you buy it." But I'm still not too sure about it. It seems a little off compared to the other chapters to me. So, what did you all think?


	5. Of List Making

_Disclaimer_: I don't own Harry Potter. Not now. Not ever. Oh, and there's a line in here that I heard my sister's boyfriend say once, so that doesn't belong to me either. But everything else that you don't recognize does.

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Chapter 4: Of List Making

Being a Muggle-born witch, there were many things that Lily Evans was considered much more knowledgeable about than her pure-blood counterparts. Cars, televisions, electricity, etc. These were all things that Lily could be considered to be quite knowledgeable about. A house-elf did not happen to be one of those things. In fact, in all of the wizarding books that Lily had ever read, she had never read one that described a house-elf in excessive detail. Therefore, the first time she saw one, she did what any normal Muggle-born witch would do and screamed.

It was just her bad luck that James Potter happened to fall on top of her immediately afterwards. It was her bad luck that her best friend happened to be cousins with the boy she hated more than anyone else. It was her bad luck that she was spending the summer with James Potter and Sirius Black. And, it was her bad luck that the events from this morning had been playing repeatedly in her head all day.

It was all of this bad luck that prompted Lily to lock herself inside of her room for the rest of the day, despite the hungry growls that were being emitted from her stomach. It could growl all it wanted; Lily refused to go down there. She was not going to willingly put herself in the presence of Potter, no matter how hungry she was or how loudly her stomach growled. Lily let out a small groan at the her unfortunate situation. She quickly looked around the room to find something to distract herself.

She grabbed a nearby piece of parchment, a quill, and some ink in order to distract herself from the gnawing hunger in her stomach. She swiftly sat down at the desk next to the door and proceeded to doodle aimlessly for a few minutes while trying to think of something to write. She didn't even want to think of starting her homework yet. Nor had she ever been particularly good at writing stories or poems. All she had ever done was make the occasional list in her childhood (_Ten Reasons_ _Why Petunia is a Really Mean Sister_, _Sixteen Reasons I Should Be Allowed to Take Ballet Lessons, _etc). She stopped doodling suddenly as an idea sprung into her head and proceeded to begin writing at the top of the piece of parchment:

_Ten Reasons Why James Potter i__s an Arrogant, Egotistical,__ Self-Centered, Annoying Prick:__ An Elaboration_.

Not the best use of her time, she reluctantly admitted to herself. But at least it would help her vent her anger towards him, so that she wouldn't have to spend the rest of the summer locked up in her room in order to avoid Potter. Writing had been a type of catharsis for her, even if all she did was make lists. It had always helped her when she was younger and was upset or angry about something. And it would help her deal with the rest of the summer and James Potter.

_1. James Potter is an spoiled, horrible, bullying prat, plus all things listed in the title. _

Lily looked proudly at the piece of parchment in front of her. She was starting to feel better about this entire mess already.

However, before Lily could move onto the second point on her list, she was interrupted by a soft knock on her door. She remained sitting in her chair, silent. She wasn't going to answer until she knew for certain who was at the door. Lily definitely wasn't in a mood to deal with Potter or Black at the moment.

"Lily? Are you in there?" Audrey's voice came softly from the other side of the door as she knocked on the door once more. Lily let out a sigh of relief at the sound of Audrey's voice.

"One second," Lily replied before getting up to unlock the door and let her friend inside. Her face dropped momentarily in horror as she saw Potter standing behind her best friend, both of them holding a plate of food in their hands.

"Aunt Anne thought that you might like something to eat since you weren't at dinner. I don't think she knew what you liked or what you were in the mood for so she had us bring up a little bit of everything," Audrey told Lily while sending her best friend an apologetic look. Audrey clearly hadn't intended for Potter to come along with her.

"Thanks," Lily responded as she took the tray from Audrey and set it down on the desk next to the list that she had been working on a few seconds before. Lily felt her face suddenly heat up as she caught sight of the list in plain sight for Potter to see. Her stomach dropped. Why didn't she think to hide it before opening the door? Hopefully he hadn't seen it yet. She many have openly despised him, but she still didn't want him to see the list of reasons as to why she openly despised him. She turned around quickly, positioning herself so she was standing in front of the list, hopefully blocking the contents of it. She stared at Potter for a few seconds, trying to read his expression, but his face seemed to have clouded over. That couldn't be a good sign, could it?

"Evans, I –," Potter began before Lily cut him off.

"Thanks," Lily said coolly as she grabbed the tray from his hands, hoping he would take the hint and leave. His eyes flitted over to the desk; his expression was still unreadable. Had he seen it or had he noticed that Lily was trying to hide something?

"But I just wanted to…" Potter faltered under Lily's glare before continuing in a tone just as icy as Lily's had been. "Fine, I hope you have a nice night, Evans."

He quickly left the room, leaving a stunned Lily and Audrey behind. They both seemed very taken aback at his treatment of Lily. James Potter had never said a harsh word to Lily Evans in the entire six years that he had known her.

"That was weird. Normally, he hits on you," Audrey commented, shutting the door behind her cousin and sitting on the floor across from Lily.

"I'd rather he treat me like that than his constant flirting and asking me out. Or his constant attempts at it anyway," Lily responded. She was still feeling slightly shaken at Potter's bizarre treatment of her.

"Well, I'm sorry I didn't warn you that he was with me. My aunt suggested that I bring you up some food and I couldn't carry up everything myself. So, she made James help. And I know you don't want to see him right now. Or ever, but…" she trailed off, giving Lily another apologetic look. Lily took a bite of the food in front of her.

"Relax, it's fine. I'm starving and you brought food, so all is forgiven," Lily said after she swallowed before continuing thoughtfully, "I guess it explains it though."

"Explains what?"

"Why you call him James. I always wondered since you claimed to hate him so much, but you two were always on a first name basis. It always seemed a little weird to me, but I guess the fact that you two are cousins explains it," Lily answered leaving an awkward silence in the air. They hadn't talked about that yet. It was still a bit of an uncomfortable for the two of them.

"That's something else I'm really sorry about," Audrey said, preparing to apologize to Lily once more. "It's not like I was proud of it, and I wasn't sure how to just casually drop it into the conversations. What was I supposed to say, 'Great job on your Charms essay, oh, and by the way, you know that person you absolutely loathe? James Potter? Well, we're cousins and… Do you hate me for keeping it from you?"

"Of course not!" Lily answered earnestly. "I mean, I was a bit stunned at first, but I understand why you did it. And I can understand why you wouldn't tell anyone. I mean I really think that you should have told me, but it's okay that you didn't. I suppose I wouldn't want people to know either if I was in your position. "

"If you were in my position, it would be really sick that he keeps asking you out. And you're not people; you're my best friend. I should have told you," Audrey apologized again.

"Stop worrying about it. It's fine. I understand why you hid it from me. I really do," Lily comforted her friend as a large smile spread across Audrey's face.

"Thanks, Lily. And speaking of hiding things from people, what was on the desk that you were so anxious to hide from James, anyway? Love letters? To James?" Audrey asked teasingly, looking curiously over at the piece of parchment lying on the desk. Lily let out a sound of disgust at Audrey's suggestion.

"Ugh, you sound like him," Lily remarked disdainfully. "Was it that obvious? That I was trying to hide something?"

"You mean it really is one?" Audrey asked, sounding incredulous as she rushed over to the desk and quickly read through the supposed letter to James. "Oh, Lily, if this is a love letter, you need some serious tips on how to write one."

"It's not a love letter. And I'll have you know that I could write a perfectly adequate love letter if I wanted to. It's a list of reasons as to why I hate your cousin," Lily replied sounding slightly offended at Audrey's suggestion of her inability to write a love letter.

"Yeah, I thought it might be that. Of all the ways to spend the night, you decide to make a list dedicated to how much you hate James. Very productive. Not at all immature," Audrey playfully taunted her best friend.

"Writing is my Tylenol and my Potter-ache is gone," Lily replied cheekily as Audrey started to laugh.

"Potter-ache? Is that like heartache? Is your heart just aching for James?" Audrey asked jokingly causing her friend to blush slightly at her words.

"It's more like a headache," she answered as she rubbed her forehead.

"Although, if you two did get together, we would be like family," Audrey said thoughtfully. Lily wasn't sure that she liked the look on her friend's face; it was too close to Potter's when he was plotting some huge prank.

"That's not going to happen. Sorry. Now please stop planning whatever you're planning."

"I'm not planning anything," Audrey defended herself. She waited a few seconds before adding, "What if he deflated his head?"

"No! Not even then. I thought you hated him. Why do you want me to go out with him all of the sudden? And I don't think my boyfriend would approve," Lily remarked, confused by her friend's sudden enthusiasm for James Potter.

"I do hate him, but I like you. And if you and James were together, we would be like sisters! Sort of," Audrey said. She sounded very excited about the prospect of being sisters with Lily.

"I don't think you can become someone's sister by marrying their cousin. I think we'd be more like cousin-in-laws or something. And don't you have any other cousins that you could set me up with?" Lily asked.

"Well, I have my cousin, Dominic, on the other side of my family. He's four. And a real prat," Audrey said slowly.

"Sounds a lot like Potter. Acts like a four-year-old. And he's a prat too," Lily commented.

"But no one would accuse you of robbing the cradle with James," Audrey pointed out causing Lily to laugh.

"That true, but if it's all the same to you, I think that I'll just stick with what I have."

"Then we're not sisters," Audrey replied, her face falling.

"Well, I think of you like a sister anyway. Only I get along with you better than I do with Petunia. So, I don't think marrying Potter is really necessary. Sorry."

"Okay, I guess you don't have to marry James," Audrey conceded.

"Thank you for giving me permission to marry whoever I want. I appreciate that," Lily thanked her friend.

"You should. And he'd better be good, whoever he is. With cute brothers."

"You're restricting my choices again," Lily lightly reprimanded.

"Sorry. Marry whoever you want. Lily, do you think that I could contribute to the list?" Audrey asked as an idea suddenly struck her and began to quickly write as soon as Lily handed the piece of parchment over to her.

_2. __Lily and I (Audrey) consider ourselves like sisters. And James is my cousin__ (not by choice)__. Therefore every time he hits on her, it's almost incestuous.__ Almost. But close enough._

Lily laughed as she saw the second reason on the list before she felt her heart sink as a thought suddenly re-entered her head: had Potter seen it?

"Do you think that he saw the list?" Lily asked nervously.

"You'll find out tomorrow."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you're both morning people. You're bound to run into each other sometime tomorrow morning, especially if you're planning on eat breakfast," Audrey commented. Lily's eyes widened in horror with each syllable her friend said. Of course Potter was a morning person too. That would explain why he was up so early this morning. It explained why she would always see him wandering the Hogwarts corridors early in the morning. It explained why this summer was probably going to be the worst summer of her entire life.

"He's a morning person?" Lily asked feeling slightly horrified at this news.

"Always has been. A bit annoying actually," Audrey said making a face. But after seeing the terrified look on her best friend's face, she quickly added, "Oh, Lily, don't worry about it. You probably won't even see him that much in the mornings. Just at breakfast probably. And Anne and John might be there too. So don't even think about not eating to avoid him. You aren't going to starve yourself this summer just so you don't have to face James."

"You wouldn't bring me food?" Lily asked, pretending to be hurt.

"No I wouldn't, Lily. Only when James does something really stupid and inconsiderate towards you, like this morning. Really, really stupid and inconsiderate. You aren't going to starve yourself just so you can avoid James. Promise me you won't," Audrey said seriously. She knew the extreme lengths that Lily would undergo to in order to avoid James Potter.

"I promise I am not going to starve myself just so I can avoid Potter," Lily responded before muttering under her breath, "The stupid, bloody morning person."

Of course Potter was a morning person too. That was just more of Lily's bad luck, wasn't it?

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_A/N_: Okay I just wanted to quickly thank everyone who has been reviewing so far and everyone who has put this story or me on story/author alert or their favorite story/author list. It means a lot. I never really thought that I would get this kind of feedback, so I just really wanted to thank everyone. And extra thanks to my friend Amy, Zashiki-Warashi4, for agreeing to beta this chapter and offering all of her constructive criticism. It's very much appreciated. 


	6. Of Frustration and Fights

Disclaimer: Don't own it.

A/N: Just wanted to give a quick word of thanks to all of my reviewers and to my beta.

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Chapter 5: Of Frustration and Fights 

"Stupid, bloody promise!" was the thought that entered Lily's head as she slowly made her way downstairs towards the kitchen (the only place in the entire house that she could find without getting lost). Her promise to Audrey hadn't seemed so insignificant last night. But now as the prospect of spending time alone with Potter was rapidly approaching, the promise seemed like a strange and cruel form of torture inflicted upon her by her best friend. Starving seemed to become a better and better prospect with each passing second.

A morning person. It seemed so impossible. Lily decided that fate must hate her. Apparently James Potter was a morning person. The words were still unbelievable to her. To Lily, Potter was the epitome of all that was lazy. The fact that he willingly dragged himself out of bed early every morning was absolutely incomprehensible to her. James Potter. A morning person. Those words didn't seem to belong together at all.

Audrey couldn't have been serious when she told Lily that Potter was a morning person. It had to be a lie. A misconception. A mistake. A slight bending of the truth with the sole purpose of teasing Lily. No, Audrey wouldn't lie to Lily again after last night. But still, she could have been mistaken. Audrey could have been unwittingly lying about Potter's morning person-ness. Audrey and Potter hadn't spent a great deal of time together since they were ten according to what Audrey told her later last night. It was possible that he could have changed over time. He could have grown to hate the mornings and sleep in every day. Yesterday could have been a completely weird and random occurrence.

There was a chance that Potter might not be a morning person anymore. It was a possibility. Very possible. Very likely, really when she thought about it. Potter probably, most likely, hopefully, wasn't a morning person anymore. And if he was, well, Lily could only hope that he hadn't seen the list as well. The morning would be a complete nightmare if he had.

Lily drew in a deep breath and paused momentarily as she arrived outside of the kitchen door. She closed her eyes and blindly searched for the handle on the door before entering the kitchen. She opened her eyes and breathed a sigh of relief as she sat down at the kitchen table, thankful that she was the only one in the room.

"Good morning, sunshine," a voice greeted her brightly. Lily cringed immediately. She recognized that voice. She turned her head to see James Potter appear from the door that she had come through only a few seconds earlier. Fate definitely hated her.

"Where are your parents?" Lily asked choosing not to comment on the "sunshine" part of his greeting and settled for an angry glare instead.

"Sunshine, you offend me!" Potter responded. His voice was lightly laced with something she couldn't quite identify. "Like my parents sit around all day and do nothing. They're working."

Lily nodded, feeling slightly idiotic, but she quickly brushed it off.

"Is Audrey up yet?" she asked, knowing what the answer would be before she finished the question. She could still hope though.

"Oh, sunshine," he said in a very condescending tone, increasing Lily's irritation with him, along with his repeated use of his new nickname for her. "Of course she's not up yet. It's seven in the morning. She won't be up for another good four hours. And Sirius should be up in about five or six."

"Stop calling me sunshine. And what are you doing up so early?" Lily asked bitterly. "I never thought of you as a morning person."

She was still clinging to the hope that Potter may not actually be a morning person and that today and yesterday might have been a strange coincidence. As well as today. But it seemed less likely with every second. He was far too cheerful in the morning for this to be some bizarre coincidence.

"What? Evans-shine?" Potter said in mock outrage as he tested out a variation of his new nickname for her. "I have many layers…"

There was a brief pause. An odd emotoin crossed Potter's face; he seemed to be debating on whether or not to continue.

"I guess you were just too busy calling me an arrogant, egotistical, self-centered, annoying prick to ever get to know me that well," he finished.

Potter's tone had slowly turned from mock outrage to something else. Genuine outrage. Lily inhaled sharply at hearing the familiar words. She felt her face turn white; her jaw dropped in shock. The idiotic nickname didn't even register with her this time; a single thought crossed her mind. He had most definitely seen the list. He was practically quoting it. Fate didn't hate Lily; it loathed her. Lily closed her eyes and took a deep calming breath before she regained her composure.

"You're really not that complex, Potter," Lily snapped at him as she uttered the first words that popped into her head. "You are an arrogant, egotistical, self-centered, annoying prick! And don't call me Evans-shine either!"

He looked moderately unfazed by her insults. He continued to sullenly stare at her, leaving the two of them in a bitter silence. He slowly made his way to the table and sat down in the seat across from her.

"What are you doing up so early?" he asked casually. His tone betrayed no trace of anger or resentment, but his eyes avoided hers. He was determinedly staring out of the kitchen window, being extremely careful not to even glance in her direction.

"Unfortunately, I'm a morning person too," she answered looking down at her hands as a different kind of silence descended upon the room. It remained unbroken for several minutes.

"Are you hungry, Evans?" Potter inquired in a fairly pleasant tone, breaking the silence. He turned his head towards her as she glanced up. Their eyes met for a brief second before his eyes flickered back towards the window. Lily felt her heart stop momentarily as she wondered what Potter was up to.

"What?" Lily asked, confused at his apparent change in mood. He should be angrier at her than he was. Her eyes were now fixed solidly upon him, curiously staring at the person across from her. She tried to turn her head away. She knew that she did not want Potter to catch her staring at him. But her eyes remained inquisitively stuck to his face. She couldn't help it; his behavior had thrown her and all she could think to do at the moment was to stare at him.

"Are you hungry? Do you want something to eat?" Potter asked, sounding irritated with her. Lily tore her eyes away from his face. As he got up from his seat and proceeded to walk over towards the other side of the room.

"Sure. Fine. I don't care," she answered as indifferently as she could. Her eyes were now glued to the back of his head.

"Great. What?" Potter asked coldly not bothering to look at her.

"Anything's fine," she replied with irritation. Potter began to search through the cabinets for different ingredients, slamming the cabinet doors loudly each time. Silence had overcome the kitchen once more; it was only broken by the sounds of Potter repeatedly slamming the doors. He continued to determinedly look away from her. A thick tension slowly built in the room with each second.

"Potter? Can I ask you a question?" Lily asked tentatively. She was trying to break the tension that was hanging in the air. She tried to convey no annoyance or bitterness in her tone. He turned around to face her, seeming a bit confused. She attempted a weak smile.

"Obviously," he answered with a cold tone, however, a slight grin seemed to be tugging at the corners of his mouth encouraging Lily to go on. She searched her mind for something to ask him. She had merely wanted to break the tension in the room. She hadn't thought so far ahead as to consider what to ask him. She said the first thing that came to her mind.

"Why is it you like to cook so much? I mean, it's really not something that I ever pictured you doing," Lily babbled. She was actually genuinely interested in Potter's hidden talent. It was something that she had never imagined him doing, although she had never pictured him as a morning person either.

The grin on his face seemed to vanish almost instantaneously. He seemed to be frozen for a few seconds; his body was perfectly still before he let out a deep breath. He ran his fingers through his hair; it looked even messier than usual. A new kind of smile had appeared on his face; it was very familiar to Lily. Too familiar. He had used it on her so many times before. Every time he hit on her. Lily inwardly groaned as she realized what was about to happen. He began, slowly and deliberately, to walk towards Lily.

"And what sort of things have you imagined me doing?" he asked, his voice had switched to the deeper one that he usually reserved for asking her out. Lily felt her cheeks turn red at the implications hidden in Potter's question. He usually just settled for a simple, "Evans, will you go out with me?" Lily was flustered, unsure how to respond. He was moving faster towards her now. And they were closer than they had been before. Much closer.

"I – I only meant…" Lily stammered before letting the sentence trail off completely. Her mind had seemed to have gone inexplicably blank.

"What terribly _naughty _things have you imagined dong with me?"

Their faces were centimeters apart now. Potter was looking at her with interest now; he seemed to be surprised that Lily had let him get so close to her. She was surprised at herself too. His questions were really catching her off guard. And his presence. _Why is he so close?_ she wondered. Why had she let him get so close? Normally she would have hexed minutes ago. He hesitantly put his hand up to her face. Lily vaguely wondered why she couldn't remember any good curses right now. Or where she had put her wand.

"I saw you staring at me, Evans. What sort of things do you want to do to me?" he whispered into her ear.

She sharply inhaled as she realized the full gravity of the situation. James Potter was close to her. Too close. Her hands found her way to his chest as she firmly pushed him away from herself. That was something he clearly had not planned on as he let out a gasp of surprise and toppled backwards, landing on the hard kitchen tile.

"You're a pig, Potter," Lily spat at him. "You disgust me. You are foul and horrible and I can't believe that I'm stuck with you for an entire summer!"

"Well, you're stuck with me. Start getting used to it," he responded coldly. Lily felt her hatred for him boil up inside him. He was so horrible! Words began to stream out of her mouth as she towered over him. Every insult she could think of seemed to leave her mouth.

"You're the most arrogant, big-headed, conceited, bullying, annoying, egotistical, insufferable prat that I have ever had the misfortune of meeting!" she yelled venomously.

"You've mentioned that before," he responded coldly. "I think it might have been on that list you made earlier."

Lily blanched as the words spilled out of Potter's mouth. She felt slightly shocked at Potter's confirmation of what she had suspected. He _had_ seen it. Of course he had seen it. No wonder he was treating her like this. He had asked her out before. Many times. But he never went as far as he had just now. He had never done anything like that until now.

"You did see it then," she stated still feeling stunned at what Potter had just said.

"Bit hard to miss, Evans. It was just lying on the desk. Didn't seem like you were trying very hard to hide it from me!" he responded angrily. Lily wished to be anywhere but where she was right now. Voldemort's headquarters. That seemed like a nice alternative at the moment.

"I didn't want you to see it," Lily said softly. She looked carefully down at her feet; she couldn't bring herself to look at the anger and fury in his eyes.

She vaguely wondered why she was feeling so guilty about it. He was every one of those things she had written on the list. He was arrogant. He was egotistical. He was self-centered and annoying. He was all of those things she had just said. He was terrible, terrible person. But she still couldn't help the feelings of guilt that were rising up inside of her now.

"Great! I feel so much better now knowing that you didn't want me to see the list of reason as to why I'm such a horrible person," he responded fiercely. She lifted her head so that their eyes met for a moment. The feelings of guilt dispersed and were placed with anger and loathing.

"You are a horrible person! You're a bully. And a show-off! You think you're so much better than everyone else because you score a few goals in Quidditch! You curse people for your own amusement! Because you get some sort of sick pleasure out of seeing other people being humiliated! You're an immature, arrogant, bullying prat!" she yelled.

Potter seemed to be taken aback by her words. He said nothing for a few seconds as the words seemed to sink in. He leaned casually backwards against the kitchen countertop. The rage in his eyes seemed to dim for a moment before it was replaced by something else altogether. A strange sort of calmness had seemed to wash over his face. Lily wasn't sure whether she liked it any better.

"And you're so much better than me, Evans?" he asked calmly. "Are you?"

Lily stared at him for a minute feeling very taken aback at his question. She was unsure of how to respond to it. Potter let out a short derisive laugh at her stunned state before he began to speak again.

"You honestly think that you're better than me? You? With your list of reasons as to why you a hate person? Oh, yes you're very mature, Evans! You aren't petty or anything, are you? A list of reasons about why you hate someone? And you still think that you're better than me?" he asked her. His voice steadily lost its calm and managed tone. The anger from a few minutes ago was slowly working its way back into his voice.

His words hit Lily unexpectedly. She stared at him as the words slowly sunk in. A hundred thoughts began to race through her mind, but only one seemed to stand out. Was she any better than Potter? The list most definitely had not been her finest moment, but that certainly didn't put her on Potter's level, did it? Potter's words seemed to be ringing incessantly in her ears now. He could hear his voice ask her that question over and over again. She looked away from him in embarrassment and quickly made her way towards the nearest door. She heard a faint "damn it" from the kitchen as she made her way up a nearby set of stairs.


	7. Of Contracts and Compromises

_A/N: _I went back and re-edited the first two chapters because, well, I'm anal like that. There aren't any hugely significant changes though. Just some minor things.

_Disclaimer_: Don't own it.

* * *

_Chapter 6: Of Contracts and Compromises_

James felt the sickly familiar sensation of rejection sink into the pit of his stomach. He had been expecting it, of course. It would be ridiculous to expect anything else from her, and he was certainly used to it. He had been expecting her to get angry and shout. And a part of him had wanted her to. He wanted to cause her some sort of pain after what she had done to him. He wanted her to feel the same horrible things that he had felt. He wanted to see her as angry as he was.

James' anger with Lily Evans had quickly subsided and morphed into anger at himself. He had been an idiot. A complete prat. He had seen the list that Evans had made and he let his anger get the better of him. And he had made everything worse. Evans had never looked at him with as much hatred and loathing before. James felt himself sink even lower.

This summer was not going well at all.

James let out a deep sigh and attempted to push the events of this morning out of his thoughts. No such luck.

He put the bucket he had grabbed from the hall closet under the sink faucet in the bathroom and began to fill it with cold water until it was full. He grabbed a towel from under the sink and carried it down the hallway, allowing water to spill out over the sides, and walked into his best friend's room.

He watched the sleeping figure of Sirius. No amount of poking, prodding, or shouting had ever managed to wake him up at Hogwarts. Drastic measures were usually necessary.

"Sorry about this, mate," he muttered as he removed Sirius' wand from his reach. He then proceeded to pour the bucket of water over his best friend's head. Sirius let out a yell; James quickly threw the towel at him as he sat on the desk in the corner of the room, Sirius' wand safely tucked inside his pocket.

"What the bloody hell was that for?" Sirius asked angrily as he wiped off his face with the towel.

In spite of everything that had happened this morning, James felt a smile creep across his face as he caught the ridiculous sight of his soaking wet best friend. Things were – even if only minimally so – improving.

"Morning, Padfoot. Glad to see you're awake. Fancy a chat?" James asked brightly, pretending to be oblivious to the harsh glare Sirius – who had just realized his wand was missing – was sending his way.

"You're mental. It's 8:30 in the morning. Now give me my wand so I can hex you," Sirius demanded. James merely smirked in response.

"Consider this revenge for last night," James replied with a slight grimace on his face. The stories shared around the dinner table last night seemed to be one of the highlights of his summer so far. Last night seemed so far away now with everything that had happened since then.

"The naked James story was worth it," Sirius said.

"Have I mentioned how disturbing it is that you seem to get some sort of bizarre pleasure from hearing stories about me being naked?" James muttered. He felt his foul mood returning.

"Bet you wouldn't mind if it was Evans who wanted to hear naked James stories. Do you mind if I share the story with her?" Sirius asked lightly.

"If you tell her, you are going to be waking up like this every day for the rest of the summer, rest of our time at Hogwarts, and when you're old and married with fourteen kids, I am still going to break into your house and wake up you, your wife, and your fourteen children up like this," James threatened.

"Relax, Prongs. I won't tell. I wonder if I can convince Devy to tell…" Sirius let the sentence trail off.

"Sirius! Things are bad enough between Evans and I as it is. I don't need you to make it worse!" James said angrily.

James had been trying to push the events of earlier away. But they came bubbling back up to the surface of his mind. He let out an audible groan. He couldn't imagine what Evans's reaction would be the next time he saw her. He probably wouldn't even see her for days. Weeks, maybe. She tended to do that after James behaved in an extremely moronic way. Such as this morning.

"Something happen between the two of you, mate?" Sirius asked.

James nodded miserably.

"You remember the list that I told you about last night? The one I saw in Evans' room?" James asked.

"You did something stupid," Sirius stated.

Normally, James would have been fully prepared to defend himself had Sirius been wrong. Unfortunately, in this case Sirius was right. James still wasn't sure what had come over him in the kitchen earlier that morning. The whole situation seemed surreal now. He could see the scene play over again in his mind. It felt like that was someone else this morning and he had just been watching the whole thing. Miserably, he began to recount the details of what had happened earlier today to his best friend.

"So, was that part of your plan to make Evans like you? Because I don't think it went over too well…"

James smiled weakly at his friend's poor attempt at humor.

"I don't know," James replied. "I think we have a pretty solid love-hate thing going on."

"Yeah, you love her and she hates you."

"More or less," he agreed vaguely.

He didn't actually want to think about how close to the mark Sirius was. Evans disliked him; he had always known that. But did that dislike actually carry into hatred and loathing? He had never thought that she really _hated _him. Well, if she hadn't hated him before then she probably did _now_ after what he did. James hated himself for it, so why wouldn't she?

"I made a right mess of things between Evans and me, didn't I?"

"Not really, considering things weren't exactly, er, orderly between the two of you in first place," Sirius responded with a wide grin.

James quickly sent a glare in his direction and opened his mouth to say something snarky and sarcastic in return. However, there was a knock on the door. Sirius and James both silently stared at the door wondering who it could be. No one currently in the house would have any reason to knock on Sirius's door.

"Er, were you expecting someone?" James asked his friend who was looking just as confused as James was.

"No, but I am quite loveable. It's not surprising that someone would want to see me," Sirius replied arrogantly.

Whoever was outside the door knocked again.

"Oh, yes. I'm sure it's the Sirius Black Fan Club just dropping by for a visit," James said sarcastically as they both ignored the knock.

"You're just jealous because of the lack of a James Potter Fan Club."

James rolled his eyes. The person outside the door knocked once more.

"Black?" a frustrated voice called through the door.

James sent a perplexed look towards his friend, wondering what on earth his cousin was doing knocking on his best friend's bedroom door at 8:30 in the morning. Sirius looked equally confused. Audrey knocked on the door once more.

"Black? Are you there? Have you seen James?" Audrey asked through the door, sounding even more annoyed than she had before.

"Notice that the Sirius Black Fan Club refers to you by your last name and me by my first name," James commented with a cocky smile on his face.

"Notice that the Sirius Black Fan Club is not knocking on James Potter's door."

"Notice that the Sirius Black Fan Club is requesting James Potter and not Sirius Black," James said with a slight emphasis on the word "not."

Sirius seemed momentarily flustered, unable to come up with a response for James. James smirked haughtily.

"At least I'm not referring to myself in the third person," Sirius remarked airily as he quickly regained his composure, looking completely unfazed by anything his friend had just said.

"I'm not…"

James paused for a second before realizing that Sirius was right- he _had_ been speaking in third person. His face seemed to echo the disconcerted look that had appeared on his best friend's face a few moments prior.

"Wait, you were referring to yourself in the third person too!" James pointed out.

"No, I was referring to an organization that happens to have my name in it. I couldn't go around calling the Sirius Black Fan Club the Me Fan Club, could I?" Sirius replied.

James opened his mouth for a second and then closed it. He pondered briefly what Sirius had said. Technically, what he had said was true, but still…

Audrey knocked on the door again.

"Fair point," James conceded, still ignoring his cousin.

"Are you going to let us in or not?" Audrey's irritated voice came from the other side of the door as she began to rattle the handle.

The words took James a few seconds to process. Something seemed to click in his brain. And a single word stood out. _Us_. Audrey wasn't alone. And while it was possible that Audrey had finally snapped and started referring to herself in the first person plural. Or that she was accompanied by Edie – unlikely since Audrey had an aversion to house elves since she had accidentally killed her own years ago. Or there was even a possibility that Audrey had met a Muggle boy in the nearby village that she wanted to introduce to everyone before running off with him to live a magic-free existence. There was a fourth possibility that seemed much more likely than any of the others. There was a very good chance that Audrey was standing on the other side of the door with Evans.

James barely heard Audrey's continued ranting as he sprinted to the door, unconscious of his hand messing up his hair even more. He took a deep breath without registering the laughter coming from behind him. The sound of his heart beating seemed to drown everything else out. If it was Evans at the door with Audrey – and not Edie or a Muggle strange or a certifiably insane Audrey – then that meant that Evans was willing to look at him after his horrible treatment of her. And if she was able to look at him, then there was hope.

"You just figure out that Evans is probably out there too?"

James ignored him and opened the door to see his cousin and Evans standing in front of him. He racked his brain for different ways to apologize. Nothing came to mind. He stood there, silent, grinning idiotically at her. She glared harshly in return. James opened his mouth to say something. Anything. The first thing that popped into his mind, however, before James could even say something Audrey shoved the long piece of parchment towards him. James began unrolling it; his eyes widened at its contents. Was Audrey completely crazy?

"In accordance with the Lufkin Act, James Edward Potter and Lily Catherine Evans are hereby entered into a Wizarding Contract. Audrey Lucille Devlin and Sirius Alphard Black serve as witnesses. Should either part break the agreed regulations (see below), the consequences will be in accordance with the standard procedure in these cases," James read aloud.

"A Wizarding Contract?" Sirius asked. "Is that really necessary?"

"Playing with your dad's law books again, Devy?" James asked with a smirk.

"I'm not six, James. I don't play. This is what I'm going to do when I get out of Hogwarts," she said proudly.

"You're not going to be a ballerina anymore?" James teased her.

"You can dance?" Sirius asked, looking slightly surprised.

"Not very well. She lacks coordination," James commented, grimacing. He remembered the several times Audrey had made him "practice" with her. He obtained more injuries from "practicing" with her than he ever had from any Quidditch match.

"Can we get back to the matter at hand?" Audrey asked.

"Certainly," James replied briefly looking over the list.

The only formal looking part was the beginning which was written in Audrey's slow, careful handwriting. The rest was written in Evans' messy script. James could tell she had sped through it in order to finish it so quickly. It was another numbered list of things James would be prohibited from doing this summer if he agreed to this. He had barely gotten to number seven before he had already come to his decision.

"No," James said softly handing it over to Sirius to look at.

"But you haven't even finished looking at it. You can't make your decision yet!" Audrey protested.

Lily glared stonily at him.

"I already did," he remarked.

"Take another look. You have to agree to it. I'm not going to let you harass Lily all summer. And if this is the only way to keep you from doing something stupid, then this is what we're going to do!"

"I'm sorry for what happened this morning," James apologized looking directly at Evans. "But I'm not going to sign this. Not unless there's something in it for me too."

"Prongs, you can't seriously agree to that. That list! It's crazy! There's nothing that Evans or Devy could do that could cause you to agree to that list," Sirius commented as he handed it back to James.

Silently, James carefully flipped through the pages of the contract. Sirius was right. It was crazy. He racked his mind for something that would make it worth it. For something that would cause him to sign his name on that contract. There was nothing. To agree to these conditions would be… There was no way in hell he would ever do something like that. Not for all the galleons in the world. Not for all the money in Gringotts. Not for anything. There was nothing James could think of that would justify signing his life away for the summer.

"Well, James?" Audrey asked.

James was about to tell Audrey just where she could shove their stupid contract when a thought struck him. He grinned and moved over to his desk in the corner of the room. He quickly found a quill and began to add onto to the end of the contract.

"I'll agree to it," he said slowly as he carefully wrote out his one condition. "If Evans does this."

He handed the piece of parchment back to Audrey who looked over the new addendum. She smiled briefly in James' direction as if she was amused by his condition. But her face quickly regained its solemn composure. James sent a quick wink in her direction causing her to smile again. She childishly stuck her tongue out. But the lighthearted look remained on her face.

"That's all you want?" Evans asked, speaking for the first time. Her eyes glared suspiciously at him.

"Yes. Do we have an agreement?"

Lily mutely nodded her head.

James looked at her expectantly.

She let out a dramatic sigh, but James could have sworn that he saw a small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

"We have an agreement, _James_."

An awkward silence hung in the air as these words came out of her mouth. James could tell that this was a situation she never thought she'd be in. Granted, he'd never thought he'd be contractually obliged to behave civilly towards her – something he thought he did anyways. But he was handling his contractual obligations better than she seemed to be. She looked as though she had just uttered a horrible curse word. He continued to stare at her, relishing in the way the words made him feel. She looked back, awkwardly while Sirius and Audrey looked on.

Sirius was the one to break the silence.

"Evans, fancy hearing a story about James and a broomstick?"

_A/N_: So, this is mostly an apology because I seem to recall telling a few people that this chapter would be up quick-ish because it was already partially written. And well, yes, half of it was written when the last chapter came out, but the other half was extremely difficult for me to write. So, sorry about that. And thanks to my beta for proofreading and to all of my readers for reading.


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